One of the first summons Final Fantasy fans think of is Shiva, and rightfully so. Shiva, along with Ifrit and Bahamut, are the three most prominent summons in the Final Fantasy series having appeared in nearly every mainline Final Fantasy. It's tough to imagine a Final Fantasy without her or any major summon given their popularity. Shiva is an ice-elemental summon frequently depicted with long blue hair, pale blue skin, and often given the appearance of wearing little clothing.
Shiva is frequently referred to as an Ice Queen or Empress and her icy attacks are not to be trifled with. Her signature move, Diamond Dust, envelops enemies in ice before shattering into countless pieces. Shiva returns in Final Fantasy XVI and will play one of her most extensive roles yet.
14 Final Fantasy III
Much like Ifrit, Shiva makes her mainline debut in Final Fantasy III. Summons in FFIII have no real story purpose, they're merely abilities for the Summoner, Evoker, and Sage jobs. Shiva can be summoned by purchasing the Level 2 summon magic Icen from Replito or Doga's Village. Shiva has three abilities. The first is Mesmerize, which inflicts Sleep on all enemies.
Only Evokers can use Mesmerize except in the 3D remake, where Sage can use all three abilities. The second ability is Icy Stare, which hits only one enemy. Icy Stare is also an Evoker-exclusive ability. Lastly, Shiva can use Diamond Dust, which ice damages all enemies. Both Summoner and Sage can use Diamond Dust, but not Evoker.
13 Final Fantasy IV
In Final Fantasy IV, Rydia is the first true Summoner character in the Final Fantasy series. She's also notable for also being a Black Mage whereas most Summoners are also White Mages. Rydia acquires the ability to summon Shiva automatically through story progression.
In the Game Boy Advance and PlayStation Portable versions of FFIV, Shiva also appears as a boss. In each version, there are what is called the Lunar Ruins, which contain trials for each character. Rydia's trial involves her losing summon that have to be defeated to reattain.
12 Final Fantasy V
Final Fantasy V brings back FFIII's Job mechanic and expands it substantially. Shiva is a Level 2 summon can only be summoned through the Summoner job. Her Diamond Dust is weaker than Blizzara when used on a single enemy, but for multiple enemies, it's stronger compared to a group cast of Blizzara. Unlike Blizzara, Diamond Dust is not susceptible to Reflect.
While later versions of FFIV do contain Shiva as a boss, FFV is the first official time Shiva serves as one. Shiva is fought at Castle Walse, at the very top of its tower. Shiva is flanked by three Ice Commanders as well, making for an extra difficult boss fight, especially if the player hasn't obtained Ifrit.
11 Final Fantasy VI
Final Fantasy VI puts the summons back in the narrative spotlight with its central character, Terra Branford, having close ties with the summonable Espers. Those ties include some surprises throughout FFVI's phenomenal narrative.
Shiva is one of the Espers that are acquired naturally throughout the FFVI's main story. Similar to FFV, Shiva must first be fought as a boss battle. Shiva is fought at the Magitek Research Facility alongside Ifrit, which helped forever link the two iconic summons. With the Shiva magicite, characters can potentially learn Blizzard, Blizzara, Osmose, Rasp, and Cure.
10 Final Fantasy VII
Final Fantasy VII takes Shiva into the third dimension. Shiva is one of many Summon Materia that can be acquired throughout FFVII. Materia, when equipped to weapons or armor, gains character certain abilities such as the ability to summon.
Players can acquire the Shiva Materia from Priscilla in Under Judon who was attacked by the Bottomswell boss. Upon being saved, Priscilla gives Cloud the Shiva Materia. While the FFVII remake trilogy hasn't covered these events yet, Shiva can be acquired in Final Fantasy VII Remake after defeating her as a boss in Chandley's virtual reality Battle Intel.
9 Final Fantasy VIII
Final Fantasy VIII is one of the most divisive Final Fantasy mainlines thus far. One of the biggest reasons why is its Junction system, which will continually confuse players throughout their playthrough. For those who do understand it and the incentive to not level up, the Junction system can be exploited to make characters overpowered incredibly early.
Shiva is among the first summons—or Guardian Forces—Squall can acquire. During the beginning tutorial section, both Shiva and Quezacotl can be found in Squall's Study Panel. Shiva enhances Strength, Vitality, and Spirit. Shiva has a unique ability that can be learned in Doom, which is a devasting attack that, when afflicted, countdowns an enemy's demise.
8 Final Fantasy IX
Summons have a heavy focus in Final Fantasy IX's narrative. Summoners were a race of people who lived in the village of Madain Sari in the Outer Continent. However, by the time FFIX's story begins, only two remained: the unknowing Princess Garnet Til Alexandros and Eiko, the only summoner remaining at Madain Sari.
From the start of FFIX, the player can see that Garnet has access to different summons, including Shiva. However, she has nowhere enough MP to actually use them. As for Shiva, she doesn't serve a story role as Bahamut does. Despite that, the Eidolon Wall in Madain Sari implies that summoners discovered Shiva when she was a small child, and she later adapted her appearance to the culture of her era, as all Eidolons do.
7 Final Fantasy X
In Final Fantasy X, summons, or Aeons, were previously living people. Some people give up their souls to become a Fayth in order to effectively live forever fighting Sin, an apocalyptic force that continually resurrects. Shiva was once a Macalanian priestess named Silvia.
Shiva remained in the Macalania Temple to await summoners on a pilgrimage to ask for aid to defeat Sin. Shiva in FFX is perhaps best known for her Diamond Dust animation where she freezes an enemy and then shatters them with a snap of her fingers. In later versions of FFX, dark super boss versions of Aeons can also be fought, including Shiva.
6 Final Fantasy XI
Final Fantasy XI took Final Fantasy in a bold new direction by being an MMORPG. Even today, despite the success of it and its successor, Final Fantasy XIV, some Final Fantasy fans still refuse to acknowledge it as a true mainline Final Fantasy.
Those who haven't tried FFXI are missing out as FFXI showcases immense love for the greater Final Fantasy franchise. In FFXI, Shiva is one of the celestial Avatars. Previously, Shiva was a queen but was betrayed by her uncle and banished to the north where she was later found frozen in ice. Shiva was later able to be summoned by Summoners in the Rise of the Zilart expansion.
5 Final Fantasy XII
For the first time since her debut, Shiva does not appear in a mainline Final Fantasy. The summons of Final Fantasy XII are unique to the world of Ivalice. Traditional summons, like Shiva and Ifrit, were relegated to the names of airships.
Shiva did eventually appear in FFXII's Ivalice universe through FFXII's sequel/spinoff Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings. Shiva is among the Espers, or Yarhi, unique to the sky continent of Lemurés. Shiva is a Rank III Water summon, despite having the ice-based fire weakness. Her Diamond Dust attack also inflicts Stop as well.
4 Final Fantasy XIII
Unlike Ifrit, who only had a minor role in Final Fantasy XIII, Shiva is one of the primary summons. There are a few reasons why this iteration of Shiva is one of the most unique yet. The first is that there isn't a single Shiva. Shiva in FFXIII is a pair of sisters, Nix and Stiria.
What also makes these Shiva Sisters unique is FFXIII's feature Gestalt Mode where FFXIII summons transform into vehicles. The Shiva Sisters merge into a motorcycle. Snow Villiers acquires the ability to summon the Shiva Sisters after defeating them at Lake Bresha, which was a test in order to prove he is worthy of their aid. From there, the Shiva Sisters help Snow on his path to save his beloved fiancé, Serah.
3 Final Fantasy XIV
In FFXIV, most summons (or Primals) are called upon where a group of people or a beast tribe beg for their aid by making offerings. Shiva is different as she uses a vessel in Ysayle Dangoulain, a woman who seeks to end the Dragonsong War once and for all.
The Shiva Ysayle summons isn't the true Shiva, but rather a perceived representation of her. The real Shiva was a saint who united mankind with dragons through her loving relationship with the dragon Hraesvelgr. However, the Holy See betrayed her breaking the peace between mankind and dragons. A different iteration of Shiva is fought as a Raid Boss in the Shadowbringers expansion.
2 Final Fantasy XV
Similar to FFX, much of Final Fantasy XV's narrative involves receiving the blessing of summons in order to fulfill a destiny. In FFXV, summons take the form of Astrals, titanic beings who, beyond all else, seek the prosperity of the world—even if it means fighting each other.
Shiva isn't seen until closer to the end of FFXV where she's able to be summoned in the later stages of the game. However, it turns out that she had been aiding Noctis throughout most of FFXV's story. FFXV's Shiva had a romantic relationship with Ifrit and asks Noctis to finally bring him peace after his centuries-long anger toward humanity and his subsequent servitude to Ardyn.
1 Final Fantasy XVI
Shiva is one of the many iconic summons to make a return in Final Fantasy XVI. In FFXVI, Eikons can be summoned by only a select few people called Dominants. For Shiva, her Dominant is Jill Warrick, who is a long-time friend of the Rosfield brothers, Clive and Joshua. Jill accompanies Clive throughout his years-long journey in FFXVI.
Clive is unique as he's able to use abilities from different Eikon, which include Shiva and her Diamond Dust attack. Eikon abilities can be switched on the fly to complement FFXVI's frantic and fun combat.